details

I sure love them, even though getting them to school makes me crazy.

Weekday mornings are just nutso around here. I swear we could get up at 4:30am and still have that last-10-minute-go-insane-scramble.

The usual rush to get out the door consists of stacking pieces of peanut butter toast that no one will eat and will inevitably end up being a monstrous pile of crumbs on the floor of my Yukon on a paper plate balanced on my lidless cup of coffee while slipping on my hot pink Crocs (yes, I'm aware there's NO valid excuse for them) and trying to stuff Jack's homework, lunch box, and soccer gear into his backpack at the same time.

Natalie and Carter are arguing over who gets to sit in the front seat (which is actually a captain's chair in the middle row, but apparently counts as the "front seat" to them because they're not allowed to ride in the actual front seat yet). I look down after attempting to break up their argument while I'm buckling Natalie's cornet case in the actual front seat (since the latch is broken and the case doesn't stay shut) and realize that my coffee is now all over the front of my no-so-flattering hooded sweatshirt.

After starting the car and heading down the driveway I feel that my legs are wet and come to realize that my 3-sizes-too-big sweat pants are soaked from the bottom to about half way up my calf because my Crocs are backless and the ground was wet.

Carter is telling Natalie she can't practice her cornet during soccer practice because it's annoying and it scares Fischer. Jack is saying he forgot to bring something for sharing and I tell him I'm sure he can find something on the floor of the car that will work just fine but hurry because we're almost there.

We pull up to the school and notice the buses are already parked in the garage and the kids fall pile out of the car.

They wait because they know.

We all take a deep breath even though we're LATE and they look at me expectantly with smiles on their little peanut butter smudged faces.


I look them each in the eyes one at a time and smile as I say, "I love you SO much!"

No matter how crazy the morning goes (and I'll be honest, they're mostly ALL crazy) the only thing that matters is that they know.

The rest is just details.